Meeting the Corporal
= Meeting the Corporal = // Kauyon'Eshh Report 82645:g // Author Por'el Doron'ro Excerpt 1.24 The final stage of our journey to the Carthax sector was completed aboard the flagship of Rogue Trader Sir Niels Hemmens. Hemmens was good enough to entertain us in his private suites and accorded us all the privileges due a diplomatic mission. Through Hemmens we were able to make contact with various levels of Carthaxian society. Seeking a favourable reception within the Administratum we were introduced to Branislav Rainard by Densix Lorenz, a smuggler of xenos artefacts, who had had dealings with Rainard in the past. Unfortunately Rainard was unwilling to arrange a meeting with the Corporal who had recently risen to a position of influence. We will have to find some other way to exhert pressure on Rainard to force him to arrange a audience with the Corporal. Excerpt 1.75 Our desire to learn more of this Corporal who seems to hold influence far above her low ranks led to us being approached by Edgar Zane who represents the secretive Lundvist Syndicate. He had been able to secure the coded 'Amber' surveillance disc, which had apparently been stolen from a military listening post by the notorious Mabon Jae. The listening post was near the so called 'miracle' site and was said to show something of events surrounding the Corporal's reputed resurrection, however although we were able to reach an arrangement to acquire the disc, a detailed analysis unfortunately showed it to be of little use for our purposes. An encrypted file on the 'Amber' disc led us to believe in the existance of a 'Blue' surveillance disc which should show the information we require. I therefore hired the services of Grendal Dorn, a highly capable bounty hunter, to track down blue surveillance disc - and it was he who led us to Zophar Sarthuul. Excerpt 1.92 Retrieving the 'Blue' surveillance disc proved more difficult than anticipated. We had agreed a code phrase by which Zophar would identify himself, however when we reached the rendezvous point there were two factions waiting for us. Shas'vre O'ran climbed to a position of concealment to provide covering fire should anything go wrong, and while Fal'shia approached one group, I approached the other. The man I met had his face concealed by a gas mask, and while this did not exactly engender trust he correctly recited the code phrase and thus identified himself as Zophar. Unfortunately, before I could inform Fal'shia and O'ran that contact had been made, Fal'shia attempted to make contact with the second party appraoching the rendezvous. As seems common with these humans, they could not contain their xenophobic tendencies and immediately opened fire - fortunately Fal'shia was able to escape, despite being persued by the unidentified human. The gunfire must have alerted the authorities as a law enforcement officer arrived on the scene and we were forced to flee with O'ran providing covering fire. Excerpt 2.03 Although we had managed to obtain the authentic 'Blue' surveillance disc, a severe intrusion into our computer systems meant we were unable to analyse it fully. It did however lead us to Lieutenant Aurelid Tkacik, member of Ilithyian noble family and influential member of the military who had been present at the Corporal's so-called 'Ascension'. I tasked my assistant with gaining us an introduction to Tkacik while we persued other lines of inquiry. Excerpt 2.47 Our contacts in underground led us to an unknown alien warrior, a member of the race known as the Eldar, who gave us information about the entity known as Maloghurst. This information should be suffucient to plant evidence of a link between Maloghurst and Branislav Rainard. This combined with the information we have on the criminal underworld should be sufficient to blackmail Rainard into getting us the documentation required to give us safe passage to meet with the Corporal. While pleading with us to save his career, Rainard also told us of the Prensis Tome - a volume penned by an insane religious man, which apparently tells the Corporal's future. 'Snake-Eyes' Sergio, a mercenary gang leader with contacts was able to secure us passage to the the abandonned facility where the book is stored in return for a case of Pulse Rifles. Excerpt 2.86 As we approached the archive it became clear that there were a number of possible locations where the Prensis Tome could be hidden, so I ordered the team to split up to secure as many as possible. O'ran took the most hazardous route, advancing onto the central parapet where he would be in full view of the rival teams also searching for the tome. As he reached the first lcation he was surprised by a shotgun-wielding mercenary - O'ran's first shot missd and the mercenary's return fire knocked O'ran to the ground. The mercenary cowered behind his shield, but accurate fire O'ran caught the mercenary in the head and took him out of action. Fal'shia was the next to reach a book and upon examining it he believed it to be the genuine article but he could not be sure. I was about to secure a book from a third location, but before I could reach it a mercenary dove in and snatched it from right under my fingers. I was able to persuade the xenophobic mercenary not to attack me but could not persuade him to hand over book and he took to his heels and ran. A third stranger, this one a psyker who was presumably allied with the mercenaries we had already encountered appeared carrying another book and attempted to access a storage facility. I attempted tried to persuade him to leave, but he attacked Fal'shia instead. Despite being totally outmatched, Fal'shia managed to dodge the psyker's attacks. O'ran, still prone on the parapet, rolled to get a clear shot and fired into combat taking psyker down and forcing him to drop his book. Fal'shia took the opportunity to escape, but not before ordering his drone to snatch the psyker's book. With events starting to turn against us, Fal'shia and I withdrew to our shuttle closely persued by the psyker. In his haste to catch us, the psyker seemingly ignored O'ran and paid for his mistake as O'ran shot him too in the head, putting him out of action. Excerpt 3.45 Sir Hemmens secured an introduction to Lady Quntilla and she arranged a meeting with Lieutenant Tkacik, but more importantly she introduced us to Cardinal Tobas Kiedrow who, dispute his distaste for us, verified the authenticity of the Prensis Tome. The tome should be sufficient to get us a meeting with the Corporal. Now we just need to infiltrate the zone on Cerestne where the Corporal is reported to be serving. Fortunately we have secured the services of the infamous human trafficker Kaede Mack who can get us planetside. Excerpt 3.79 We reached the Corporal's location at the same time as a member of the Inquisition and I knew I would have to take fast if we were to survive long enough to talk to the Corporal. I ordered O'ran to keep out of sight and provide covering fire if things went wrong, and advanced towards the Corporal and her escort of heavily armed and armoured female warriors. Fal'shia and I advanced towards the Corporal's party attempting to appear as non-threatening as possible and was able to persuade the Corporal and her escort to agree to a temporary truce. The Inquisitor's agents seemed unwilling to keep to the agreed terms and when one pulled a weapon, O'ran was forced to open fire. It required some extremely quick talking to persuade the Corporal that it was the Inquisitorial agents who had broken the truce - fortunately she was willing to listen and ordered the Inquisitor and her party to stand-down. The Inquisitor seemed keen that the Corporal should leave with her and I knew I would have to prevent this if our mission to manipulate the Corporal's fate were to suceed. To show our goodwill, I offered the Prensis Tome to the Corporal and intrigued she accepted. The Inquisitor was not to be displaced so easily and threatened be demanding I turn the tome over to her instead. I was unwilling to let the Inquisitor get her hands on such a valuable bargaining chip, but felt I had to somehow comply with her demands, so compromise by handing the tome to the Corporal and suggesting that she have the Inqusitor and her religious bodyguards verify it's contents. Unfortunately it was at this point that a horde of renegade warriors turned up and interrupted out negotiations. Despite the mounting danger, I ordered O'ran and Fal'shia to fight alongside the Imperial soldiers so as not to let the Corporal out of our sight. The Inquisitor attempted to drag the Corporal away but I made sure that my team stuck close by and afetr a brief argument the Corporal broke away to fight the renegade horde. At this point I was still confident that we could achieve our mission, but events took a turn for the worse when more Imperials arrived in and aircraft and moments later all hope was lost as we were forced to flee as an orbitabl barrage was turned on our location, destroying the enemy and causing the Imperial aircraft to explode. In the confusion we made our way back to our concealed shuttle, all hope lost. Excerpt 4.52 Close analysis of data recorded by our drones has revealed the eventual fate of the Corporal. Further details to follow... Out of Character Notes The report above is a dramatisation of the events of the Autumn Conclave 2011 as seen from the point of view of a Tau team headed by Water Caste Por'el Doron'ro sent to investigate the mysterious Corporal and attempt to manipulate her fate in order to further the Empire's ends in the Carthax sector.